Biophilic Design Approach for Developing Primary School Buildings in Saudi Arabia | An Exploratory Study of a Primary School in Makkah Al-Mukarramah

With the acceleration of development challenges, an urgent need has appeared to develop modern trends in designing educational facilities that link humans with the surrounding natural environment. The study assumes that developing educational buildings for primary schools according to biophilic design features will raise education quality and life within educational facilities. The research problem shows that not connecting the primary educational buildings to the natural environment creates a gap and weakness in students' and teachers' interaction with the natural environment and causes various behavioral problems. This study investigates the shortcomings in the design of primary schools in Makkah regarding the presence of natural elements and the extent to which they are connected to educational facilities. It seeks to identify the impact of connecting the internal environment to nature and the effects on the quality of the educational process. The study applied a descriptive approach to study literatures on biophilic design, including case studies of international projects that adopted biophilic design methodology in educational facilities. It also includes a case study of a primary school in Makkah using the biophilic interior design matrix according to Kellert's theory to evaluate the design of classrooms, corridors, playgrounds, and waiting areas in the building. It concluded that the design of primary school buildings in Makkah bears some of the characteristics and strategies of the biophilic design methodology and can be developed and exploited positively to obtain an effective design that loves nature.